Mostly Monday Reads: Why is #CivilWar Trending?

Krewe du Vieux, Krewe of Underwear, Theme: Burning Ban Bookmobile, 2023

Good Day Sky Dancers!

I’m running late today because I’m exhausted and caught up in something local that I’m not sure I should blog about. I’ve been on Twitter reading to see if anyone agrees with my take on a few subkrewes of Krewe du Vieux (KDV) and what some consider satire, the text BB sent me this morning wondering if guns would be brought to the SOTU address by President Biden, and the Twitter Hashtag about Civil War.

I always run pictures of the KDV parade because I have friends that march and plan all year for the parade. I like to see and support them.  Also, they are usually spot-on with their political satire.  Each subkrewe picks a topic within a broader theme, mainly dealing with local politics. You may remember when the Krewe du Jieux and Krewe du Mishigas got together with a beautiful float statue and tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsberg that I posted a few years ago before Covid-19 took down parades for a while.

Many of the subkrewes found perfect pitch satire. Others ventured into misogynoir and now act like any criticism just means we don’t get what they’re about. I will use one example, but it’s not the only one.  We have a black woman elected Mayor, a black woman elected Sheriff, and a black woman currently serving as the acting police chief.  Black women have served and are serving on the City Council.  Our Mayors have always had difficulty governing this city for many reasons.  Our current Mayor, LaToya Cantrell, has made errors in judgment. I disagree with many things she’s done. She’s a rich target for political satire. She’s under a recall petition sponsored primarily by a rich, white uptown millionaire who wants the city to be more white and gentrified. But if they recall her, what’s the plan?

This is me and fellow blogger Adrastanos (Peter) from First Draft. Krewe du Spank took on the extremist right-wing owner of the Rock in Bowl, who gave a Halloween costume award to a guy dressed as an insurrectionist with a where’s Nancy Shirt. They all have bowling shirts with the name Nancy on them. Peter’s channeling is inner “the Dude” here.  They didn’t get outside the Overton Window on this one. KREWE OF
SPANK, This Ain’t How We Bowl, 2023

The Krewes that took her on ventured into racist and sexist tropes and unnecessary images of black women stereotypes to take what should be a political punch at her.  They referred to her as LaToya-let and showed her in a pink toilet. I’ll let Big John and his photos at the Gambit give you an idea.  I don’t want to be suis generis with this topic.  You can decide for yourself.

So, the Krewe of Lewd and a number like to go a bit over the top with paper mache dicks. I’m used to this. The theme was Krewe du Vieux Beats Off, so I expected gratuitous cocks floats, and I got them. There was spanking the monkey, choking the chicken, and a jizz from a Shell gas pump sending up the Jazz Fest’s sell-out to Shell Oil. Not my cup of tea, but it wasn’t a targeted thing, and it undoubtedly wasn’t aimed at some while using sexist and misogynist tropes.

The one krewe I will call out for the sins of misogynoir here is l.E.W.D. They went after the sheriff, and I’m not even sure why.  This is how it started. “There’s a new sheriff in town, and she needs to learn to ride a horse by Mardi Gras. Plus a few more details about the department’s role in restoring parade routes”

Francis the horse seemed to know exactly what she was doing. But on Friday morning, at the City Park stables, the newish Orleans Parish Sheriff was still getting used to sitting high in the saddle. Susan Hutson, who took office in May 2022, may have spent part of her youth in Texas, but that doesn’t make her a cowgirl.

Though, she said, she loves westerns.

The Sheriff hopes to ride a horse in the Zulu parade a month from now, ceremonially repping the department during the climax of Carnival. And she might ride in the feminist-inclined Muses parade too; a perfect match for the first female sheriff in Louisiana.

“From day one,” Hutson said, “my team was like, ‘You have to learn to ride a horse for Mardi Gras.”

L.E.W.D. Ho Down at the LEWD Ranch, 2023

So, somehow, that became this. And I still don’t know what the beef L.E.W.D had with the sheriff. Misogynoir. She’s hypersexualized. She’s turned into some kind of black barbie doll.  I have no idea what discussions went on behind this, but I was appalled and have been writing about it ever since.

And now, for my next topic.  Civil Fucking War if the DOJ or anyone indicts Trump for crimes?  Are you serious?  Remember when MSNBC unceremoniously dumped Tiffany Cross for saying this on her TV show back in September?  So, can we say she just said it before Trump did?

Wave those Fallopian tubes in protest, Ladies! Krewe of Spermes, SCOTUS incites a Pussy Riot,2023

This brings me to those metal detectors removed from the doors on Capitol Hill and BB’s Tweet. This is from The Independent. “House Democrats fear GOP members could endanger Biden at State of the Union. Members are concerned by the GOP removing metal detectors at the doors to the House chamber.” 

A group of 14 House Democrats are voicing fears that House Republicans’ reversal of security rules enacted after the January 6 attack could allow one of their Republican colleagues to threaten the life of President Joe Biden or other attendees in the House chamber during next week’s State of the Union speech.

Mr Biden is set to deliver his annual message to Congress on Tuesday, 7 February. It will be his second State of the Union speech to Congress and his first since Republicans took control of the House by winning a majority in last year’s midterm elections.

One of the first acts of the new GOP majority was to eliminate the magnetometers that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered US Capitol Police to erect at each entrance to the House chamber in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Although members have always technically been prohibited from wearing firearms in the chamber, some claimed to have had their weapons on their person during the attack.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, the group of House Democrats said they were writing with “urgent concern for the safety and security of the President, other dignitaries, and guests” at next week’s joint session of Congress.

“The GOP House Majority’s new rules have made the safety and security of the House Chamber, the very seat of American Democracy, at risk to infiltration and violence with reckless changes to necessary preventative measures. As both of our chambers come together to hear a message from the President on the state of our Union, we are concerned for the safety and security of those present,” said the members, a group which includes Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who formerly chaired the House January 6 select committee.

The members pointed to past attempts by members to secret firearms onto the House floor, other members declaring their intent to do the same, and a newly-elected GOP member sending inert grenades to colleagues as gifts as evidence that the House remains “vulnerable to multiple fronts of attacks both from inside and outside Congress”.

“Considering the ability of Members of Congress to carry firearms in the capitol complex outside the House Floor, removal of magnetometers from the entrances to the House Floor, and with record threats against the lives of Members of Congress, the security of the House complex is today precarious,” they said.

They added that they are “urgently” requesting information on what steps leadership is taking to secure the chamber before next week’s event, and said they are “amenable” to a “closed-door briefing” on the matter.

Because the State of the Union is designated as a National Security Special Event by the Department of Homeland Security, the US Secret Service — not the US Capitol Police — will be in charge of security for the Tuesday night joint session.

Krewe of Spermes, SCOTUS incites a Pussy Riot,2023

This brings me to this question. Have we ever figured out how may rogue Secret Service agents there are that will be there? I’ll let BB preview the speech tomorrow.

I need a nap already.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?